BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Scores of Egyptian Tombs Uncovered

Trove of golden objects from Egypt’s Late Period revealed

Gold foil figurines from Egyptian tombs at Tell al-Deir. Courtesy Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Excavations by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (translated), in the necropolis of Tell al-Deir, about 125 miles north of Cairo, revealed 63 mudbrick tombs and pit burials dating to Egypt’s Late Period (c. 664–332 BCE). The excavations shed further light on the importance and social stratification of the ancient port city of Damietta, which the necropolis served. The tombs of Tell al-Deir, which follow the standard architectural layout of the Late Period, also help to redate this important layer of Damietta’s history.

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Among the tombs, the Egyptian team uncovered large quantities of funerary deposits, including amulets, ushabti statues, pottery vessels, and more. In one area of the necropolis, they discovered several high-status burials interred with gold foil figures of the ancient Egyptian deities Isis, Heqat, Horus, and Bastet, as well as the protective eye of Horus. Many of the amulets were also in the form of deities.

Most of the tombs date to the 26th Dynasty (c. 672–525 BCE), when the necropolis was particularly important. However, the team also made several discoveries from later periods, including a clay jar filled with 38 bronze coins from the Ptolemaic period (c. 305–30 BCE), as well as many imported ceramics from around the eastern Mediterranean, displaying Damietta’s many connections throughout history.

Funerary deposits from Tell al-Deir. Courtesy Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Speaking with CNN, Lorelei Corcoran, a professor of art history and Director of the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at the University of Memphis in Tennessee said, “One of the most interesting aspects of this ongoing, government-sponsored excavation at Damietta is that the burials document a wide range of funerary techniques within the same cemetery precinct: from placing the deceased into a simple pit burial to interment within a mud-brick structure.” She further noted that the gold foil amulets and coin hordes illustrate the disparities in wealth and status among the individuals buried in the cemetery.

This article was first published in Bible History Daily on August 12, 2024.

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